WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (NC) today voted to oppose the “Blunt Amendment,” a far-reaching provision that would have given unprecedented authority to employers and insurers to deny women access to preventive services. Senator Roy Blunt (MO) proposed the provision as an amendment to the Surface Transportation bill, important bipartisan legislation that would help jumpstart the economy and create more than two million American jobs.

“It’s insulting to the American people that instead of focusing on job growth and the economy, some members of the Senate believe it is more important to play politics with women’s health,” Hagan said. “The Blunt amendment is a vast overreach that could lead to employers denying 600,000 North Carolina women access to vital preventive services-from mammograms to prenatal care – that saves lives and saves families. While I continue to support the religious exemption endorsed by the administration, which takes into consideration the concerns of religious organizations and requires insurance companies to reach out and offer contraceptive care free of charge, I cannot support a provision that threatens health coverage for women in North Carolina and across the country.”

Under current law, individuals are guaranteed access to free preventive services such as cancer screenings, flu vaccines, diabetes and annual checkups. The Blunt amendment would allow any employer or insurer to deny these or other services for vaguely defined objections that would take the power over a women’s health care out of her hands and into her employers’.

“The SECURE IT Act strengthens America’s cybersecurity by promoting collaboration and information-sharing, updating our criminal laws to account for the growing cyber threat and enhancing research programs to protect our critical networks,” said Senator John McCain. “This legislation will help us begin to meet the very real threat of cyber attack.”

“We are all in agreement that we need to make our nation’s cybersecurity a top priority. I believe we have come up with a strong common sense approach that will help prevent the spread of cyberattacks from network to network and across the Internet, by removing barriers to sharing information about threats, attacks, and strategies for improvement,” Senator Hutchison said. “Our bill focuses on giving businesses the tools they need to protect themselves from the looming threat of cyber criminals, and increased requirements for notification of threats to federal agencies.”

“As our nation faces increasing cyber attacks in a critical economic environment, we must ensure that the private sector has the authority it needs to defend its own networks and share cyber threat information to prevent future attacks,” Senator Chambliss said. “Now is not the time for Congress to be adding more government, more regulation, and more debt – especially when it is far from clear that any of it will enhance our security. Our bill offers the right solution to improving our nation’s cybersecurity by encouraging collaboration, investment, and innovation.”

“Our bill represents a new way forward in protecting the American people and the country’s cyber infrastructure from attack. It’s a bill that can be supported by all partners that have an interest in cybersecurity. Instead of the heavy hand of the government, our approach promotes information sharing and keeps the taxpayers’ wallets close,” said Senator Grassley.

“Rather than arming Homeland Security with expansive new regulatory authority over every sector of our economy, the SECURE IT cyber bill we’ve introduced today emphasizes a partnership approach between the government and private entities. By focusing on those areas like information sharing where bipartisan agreement is achievable, we can tackle the cyber issue in a meaningful and constructive way,” said Sen. Murkowski.

“After September 11, we broke down the barriers to information sharing and provided our intelligence and law enforcement professionals with the tools they need to keep us safe. Today, we must break down similar barriers that exist in cyber security to respond to the increasing number of attacks against private companies and the federal government,” said Senator Coats. “The SECURE IT Act will enable robust information sharing without creating costly layers of government bureaucracy or imposing new regulatory burdens on American businesses.”

“This bill recognizes that industry is at the center of any solution. It’s a sensible step forward that allows industry to invest in innovation and job creation rather than compliance. Imposing a costly and bureaucratic regulatory regime is the wrong approach to national security. New regulations will slow down innovation and investment while companies wait years for the government to introduce outdated standards,” said Sen. Johnson. “The regulatory process simply cannot keep up with the rapid pace of technology.”

“Cyber security is essential to our national security, and this bill takes a step in the right direction to ensure that our nation has the proper defenses in place to address threats to our nation’s systems and infrastructure. This bill takes fiscally responsible measures to protect against cyber threats by enhancing research and development, updating enforcement tools and penalties to reflect current threats, and promoting voluntary information sharing between the public and private sector without creating unnecessary bureaucracy or regulations,” said Senator Burr.

Co-sponsors of the proposal are U.S. Sens. John McCain, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Saxby Chambliss, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Lisa Murkowski, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Dan Coats, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, and Ron Johnson, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, and Richard Burr, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

• Require federal contractors who provide telecommunications or cybersecurity services for the federal government to report to the government cyber threat information related to those services.

• Strengthen criminal statutes for cyber crimes.

• Update the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and preserve the roles of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Commerce in disseminating security standards for the federal government.

• Leverage and strengthen existing programs in cybersecurity research and development.

CONOVER, N.C. – U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (NC) today continued her North Carolina Back to Work Jobs Tour at the ground breaking for Conover’s new Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC). The new facility aims to grow more small business manufacturing companies by providing entrepreneurs with access to low cost testing, research and development and shared resources.

“Jobs are my number one priority, and I am on my North Carolina Back to Work Jobs Tour to take action on jobs right now,” said Hagan. “The new and expanded MSC will be a successful job creator because it focuses on two of North Carolina’s greatest strengths: our manufacturing expertise and the determination of our small business owners. By giving our entrepreneurs the space and the resources to test out their ideas, train, and develop their products, MSC will help open the doors to future businesses in this community, businesses that are going to produce jobs when we need them-right now.”

This was the fifth stop on Hagan’s North Carolina Back to Work Jobs Tour. She previously visited Service Thread Manufacturing in Laurinburg, Wake Technical Community College’s emerging Simulation and Game Development Program, Guilford Technical Community College’s Aviation Center, and a veterans hiring fair in Concord.

The North Carolina Back to Work Jobs Tour will include stops in communities across North Carolina. Hagan will meet with small business owners, workers, veterans, manufacturers, workforce development officers, community college administrators, and others to gain input and feedback about concrete steps that can put people back to work right now. The tour will explore many aspects of the unemployment crisis, including a strong emphasis on job training and job readiness.

Hagan has a bill, the AMERICA Works Act, which encourages national industries, from construction to aerospace, to come together and agree on the skill sets necessary for employees. When the industries have agreed upon standards, curricula will be developed for training programs at community colleges that will offer industry-recognized credentials. When workers have earned an industry-recognized credential, they will be qualified for employment in any state. For more about the AMERICA Works Act, please click here.

President Obama has asked the defense Dept to reduce our Nuclear weapon stockpile by 80%. That would take our current level per our treaty with Russia (who by the way have threatened to walk away from our agreement on numerous occasion) from 2550 to 510. Pakistan has 300. Russia has 4550. The President took an oath to protect and defend this country. He is bound to do so by the U. S. Constitution. So far, each time the President has flaunted the Constitution (e.g. recess appointment while Congress is in session) our Congress has stood by and done nothing! It is way past time for Congress to act. What will it take for you to act?

A TEA Party activist from the Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots group emailed Senator Burr’s office and inquired where he stood on Agenda 21. Someone from his office called back, and the reply was that Senator Burr felt that there were more important issues to be concerned about, than Agenda 21. For the life of us, Senator Burr, we cannot imagine what is more important than keeping in tact the ability to have:

Private Property ownership

Single-Family homes

Private car ownership and individual travel choices

Privately owned farms

Are YOU familiar with Agenda 21? Join activist Darin in his group: Fighting Agenda 21 in NC. Maybe Senator Burr needs to take a day and catch up with the rest of us on this issue. A good place to start would be here.

The country underestimated Obama when there were concerns in the 2008 election about his socialist tendencies. Lets not underestimate the liberal left anymore, shall we?